Fone Bone
Matt Zimmer
The Simpsons "Hail To The Teeth"
I hated the Jon Lovitz stuff, but I loved the Lisa stuff. Wait, that's underselling it. I adored the Lisa stuff. It is one of my favorite things the show has ever done. Years later, while I've forgotten a ton of material from the later seasons, I will remember it. Fondly. It was amazing.
I knew after how the episode started off that it was written by a woman. I have heard horror stories from women who have had that exact experience of a jackass man coming up to them off the street and telling them to smile and pretty themselves up more unasked. And you'd probably be shocked at the ages these women endured these monsters. Men like that feel entitled to walk up to any woman and control her. And Lisa's curse is that she's wise enough to understand what is happening and why it is wrong. She actually seriously asks "You DO know I'll remember this forever, right?" It was a perfect moment where I felt her pain and outraged on her behalf.
I think the ending of the Marge robot lifting away the gross dude and saying the future is today is a little unearned after everything we just saw. In fact, the moment where Marge tells Lisa that in the future woman will be judged by their ideas instead of their looks, and Lisa bemoaning that the future is so far away, was a perfectly devastating moment of pathos for both characters. If there was one false note in the Lisa story, it was unclenching the knot in our stomachs for an unrealistic happy ending.
I love Cheif Wiggum's retainer pun to Lou. And Lou's so dumb he won't get it until it's too late.
Now to talk about the creepy Artie Ziff stuff. I think my biggest regret and fear is that this episode will create a particularly hellish Jon Lovitz DVD audio commentary fifteen years in the future. Maybe we'll be lucky and God will strike him dead before that. I'll pray for that anyways. Couldn't hurt.
The show needs more female perspectives like this. I think this is the kind of stuff Caroline Omine was so good at, and yet I felt this was even more powerful than the best of her writing. I'm just gonna pretend my battery is low when thinking about the Artie Ziff stuff. ****1/2.
Family Guy "Connie's Celica"
Family Guy has its share of horrible characters, but perhaps Connie D'amico takes the cake in outright pleasantness. She has literally no redeeming qualities. She's cruel, stupid, and worst of all, not the least bit funny. I'd feel better about her always getting the better of Meg and now Lois here if she didn't suck so much. The fact that Meg is always trying to impress this scumbag doesn't speak well of Meg.
Stewie interrupting Brian's cutaway was great. Because it's a cutaway. There are no rules. Get used to it.
I love Peter's extremely passive aggressive sarcasm over what he will do now that Lois is arrested. For the record, when I claim that Peter's innocent "Who Me?" / "I don't know any better," routine is an act, and that that sociopath knows exactly what he's doing? It's because they keep giving him scenes like this which is why I think that. It was funny though. No lie.
I love that Peter not only has an Elmo toothbrush but that it actually matters to him. That's hilarious.
I wish Lois HAD murdered Connie. The show would probably be better off.
Simpsons won the night. ***1/2.
I hated the Jon Lovitz stuff, but I loved the Lisa stuff. Wait, that's underselling it. I adored the Lisa stuff. It is one of my favorite things the show has ever done. Years later, while I've forgotten a ton of material from the later seasons, I will remember it. Fondly. It was amazing.
I knew after how the episode started off that it was written by a woman. I have heard horror stories from women who have had that exact experience of a jackass man coming up to them off the street and telling them to smile and pretty themselves up more unasked. And you'd probably be shocked at the ages these women endured these monsters. Men like that feel entitled to walk up to any woman and control her. And Lisa's curse is that she's wise enough to understand what is happening and why it is wrong. She actually seriously asks "You DO know I'll remember this forever, right?" It was a perfect moment where I felt her pain and outraged on her behalf.
I think the ending of the Marge robot lifting away the gross dude and saying the future is today is a little unearned after everything we just saw. In fact, the moment where Marge tells Lisa that in the future woman will be judged by their ideas instead of their looks, and Lisa bemoaning that the future is so far away, was a perfectly devastating moment of pathos for both characters. If there was one false note in the Lisa story, it was unclenching the knot in our stomachs for an unrealistic happy ending.
I love Cheif Wiggum's retainer pun to Lou. And Lou's so dumb he won't get it until it's too late.
Now to talk about the creepy Artie Ziff stuff. I think my biggest regret and fear is that this episode will create a particularly hellish Jon Lovitz DVD audio commentary fifteen years in the future. Maybe we'll be lucky and God will strike him dead before that. I'll pray for that anyways. Couldn't hurt.
The show needs more female perspectives like this. I think this is the kind of stuff Caroline Omine was so good at, and yet I felt this was even more powerful than the best of her writing. I'm just gonna pretend my battery is low when thinking about the Artie Ziff stuff. ****1/2.
Family Guy "Connie's Celica"
Family Guy has its share of horrible characters, but perhaps Connie D'amico takes the cake in outright pleasantness. She has literally no redeeming qualities. She's cruel, stupid, and worst of all, not the least bit funny. I'd feel better about her always getting the better of Meg and now Lois here if she didn't suck so much. The fact that Meg is always trying to impress this scumbag doesn't speak well of Meg.
Stewie interrupting Brian's cutaway was great. Because it's a cutaway. There are no rules. Get used to it.
I love Peter's extremely passive aggressive sarcasm over what he will do now that Lois is arrested. For the record, when I claim that Peter's innocent "Who Me?" / "I don't know any better," routine is an act, and that that sociopath knows exactly what he's doing? It's because they keep giving him scenes like this which is why I think that. It was funny though. No lie.
I love that Peter not only has an Elmo toothbrush but that it actually matters to him. That's hilarious.
I wish Lois HAD murdered Connie. The show would probably be better off.
Simpsons won the night. ***1/2.
![[classic swim]](/forums/data/avatars/s/324/324637.jpg?1668169542){kind=avatar}
